Nobody calls this a cushion case watch, but….

In the wonderful world of watches there are many engaging design choices and one of them (cushion shaped cases) has a strong following. Strangely none of the discussions we found online about cushion case watches included the watch you see on the left.

Cushion shaped watches can be found way back with brands like Omega and Longines producing some beautiful 30mm examples around 100 years ago. Essentially the shape of the watch tends to rectangular rather than round and it sits “on” a wrist rather than across the wrist. The shape is often associated with wearing comfort.

Perhaps the champion of the cushion case is Panerai, the Italian watch brand, which still produces a distinctive style of case, largely unchanged since 1930. Panerai is a well respected brand amongst watch collectors. It is known for producing military specification dive watches although today is considered a luxury watch brand. Interestingly, at one stage Rolex manufactured the brand’s watches.

One of the attractions of the cushion shape case is a relatively modest lug to lug distance which means that larger watches can be worn on smaller wrists without lug overhang. Panerai produced some very large wristwatches that were considered to wear “smaller” than their diameter suggested.

So, we have a distinctive watch style that features in some high end brands (Panerai, Vacheron Constantin, Laurent Ferrier, Cartier) as well as some more affordable brands like Bulova, Zodiac and Spinnaker. 

                Cartier                                    Laurent Ferrier                                    Panerai Radomir

There is one watch that I believe is a definite cushion case contender that didn’t turn up in the literature - the Seiko Samurai (see orange dialled watch in top photo). The Samurai is a popular rugged dive watch that qualifies in terms of appearance. It has a diameter of 44mm and a lug to lug of  48mm with a rectangular case. Some may think that this watch doesn’t qualify as a cushion case because it has distinctive lugs but as our photo shows it is easy to lose those steeply downturned lugs in real world situations and it certainly qualifies in the wearability stakes. The style is quite toolish and angular, although that is not unique in cushion cases. The aforementioned Panerai also has a functional or toolish asthetic with its elaborate crown guard.

Strangely, the Seiko Samurai's cousin, the Seiko Turtle, is often referred to as "cushion case" even though it is far more rounded than square in appearance. 

I personally love the Samurai. I own three of them and the comfort factor on my modest 6.75 inch wrist is outstanding. To be honest, before I wrote this article I would have denied owning a cushion case watch. But sometimes things are right under your nose.